Serbia refuses to apply provisions of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions

8th of June 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the adoption of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions, which prescribes the responsibility of a commander to prevent the commission of crimes and punish the perpetrators.

Article 87, paragraph 3 of the Protocol: „The High Contracting Parties and Parties to the conflict shall require any commander who is aware that subordinates or other persons under his control are going to commit or have committed a breach of the Conventions or of this Protocol, to initiate such steps as are necessary to prevent such violations of the Conventions or this Protocol, and, where appropriate, to initiate disciplinary or penal action against violators thereof.” Protocol I had been incorporated into national military legislation already back in 1988. Although there is legal basis, no one has ever been prosecuted for command responsibility in Serbia for crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a number of criminal complaints against commanders in whose areas of responsibility crimes had been committed. Apart from opening an investigation in the case of Dragan Živanović, HLC’s criminal complaints have been ignored. Not a single high-ranking person has been prosecuted by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of Serbia in 13 years since the beginning of its work.

The exhibition on the destruction of cultural heritage sites opened in Belgrade

On Saturday, May 27th 2017 the exhibition titled “Targeting monuments-Targeting history and memory” was opened in Belgrade. The exhibition consists of photographs, videos, eyewitness testimonies and documents that speak of the enormous scale of destroyed cultural heritage during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The exhibition is based on the eponymous narrative, which shows how serious crimes against the cultural, historical and religious heritage committed during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo were investigated, reconstructed and prosecuted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Are war crimes trials in Serbia dying out?

On Thursday May 18th 2017, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented its sixth report on war crimes trials in Serbia. The report includes an analysis of 28 cases that were conducted before the courts in Serbia in 2016, placing them in the socio-political context that affects their processing.

INVITATION: Exhibition and the debate on the destruction of the cultural heritage in the former Yugoslavia

SENSE – Center for Transitional Justice and Humanitarian Law Center

in cooperation with  Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past, History Museum of BiH and Europa Nostra

cordially invite you to join us at the exhibition

 „Targeting monuments – Targeting history and memory“

and the opening talk attended by

PhD Milena Dragićević Šešić,  professor at Faculty of Dramatic Arts

PhD Olga Manojlović Pintar, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Recent History of Serbia

Mina Vidaković, SENSE – Center for Transitional Justice

on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at 19:00

at the Center for Cultural Decontamination (Birčaninova 21, Belgrade).

The exhibition „Repression of history and memory“ shows the tremendous scale of the destruction of the cultural heritage during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, which reached the level of becoming the greatest devastation on European soil since World War II. The destruction of historical, religious and cultural buildings and sites was deliberate, part of the execution of the policy of persecuting communities from those areas the conquest of which was the aim. In that way, buildings that once unified the nations became places that separated them, often even after their restoration. The exhibition is designed to contribute to the public debate on the scope and consequences of the destruction of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, to expand horizons beyond the prosecution of those crimes by the Hague Tribunal, and to contribute to a more comprehensive discussion of the importance of cultural, religious and historical treasures in our region.

Prominent war photographers, numerous archival and museum institutions, and such renowned international experts on cultural heritage as Helen Walasek, Andras Riedlmayer and Colin Kaiser, have participated in the setting and realisation of this exhibition. The curator of the exhibition is Branka Benčić from Croatia.

 Live stream is available here

(srpski) KONKURS: Nacionalna škola tranzicione pravde

Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.

ANNOUNCEMENT: A Debate on War Crimes Trials in Serbia in 2016

On May 18th 2017 the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) will present “The Report on War Crimes Trials in 2016”, and host a debate about the findings and development in the prosecution of war crimes before Serbian courts. The event will be held at the Media Centre in Belgrade (Terazije 3, 2^nd Floor), starting at 11:00.

The Report encompasses analyses of 28 cases monitored by the HLC’s team before the war crimes departments of the Higher Court and the Court of Appeals in Belgrade, as well as before the courts of general jurisdiction. The Report also contains an overview of general findings regarding war crimes trials held during 2016, as well as important social and political events relevant to war crimes trials in Serbia.

Students of Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Visit To HLC

Students attending the Master’s Programme at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, visited the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) on March 31^st,2017, as part of their study visit to Serbia.

The HLC Legal Programme Director, Ms. Milica Kostić, presented the HLC’s work on documenting human rights violations committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia and its engagement in the field of criminal justice and reparation for war victims.

Ms. Anita Mitić, the Director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), also talked with the students, presenting the work of the YIHR and transmitting her own experiences in working on dealing with the legacy of the past.

The students took an active part in the discussion, and expressed interest primarily in the relation of the society in Serbia towards the legacy of the past, the attitude of state institutions towards victims of human rights violations, and the presentation of the events from the 1990s in official educational programmes.

The UN Human Rights Committee: Serbia to prosecute war crimes, determine the fate of missing persons and compensate the victims

At the meeting held on March 23^rd 2017, the UN Human Rights Committee adopted the Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report on Serbia. The Concluding Observations contain the Committee’s overview of the situation in Serbia regarding human rights, as regards the Third Periodic Report that Serbia submitted in September 2015. As being  the most problematic areas, the Committee has identified the rights and position of the Roma people, the LGBTI community, people with disabilities, women, children, refugees and asylum seekers, victims of trafficking and forced labour, as well as victims of the war-related crimes committed during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

Lazar Stojanović has Passed Away

On Saturday, March 4th, 2017, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) was left without its long-lasting associate and friend, Film Director Lazar Stojanović.

Lazar’s contribution to the HLC’s mission was immeasurable. During all these past years, he selflessly put his many proficiencies at the service of establishing the truth about the crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia and achieving justice for victims. As the author of „The Scorpions- A Home Movie “, he helped inform the public about the participation of the notorious unit in the war in BiH and its involvement in the commission of the Srebrenica genocide. He invested his inexhaustible energy unstintingly in the Initiative for the establishment of RECOM, by leading the media campaign which followed the collection of support signatures for establishing this body, and by demanding that government representatives be dedicated to the building of a regional peace.

Students’ Visit to HLC

Students from the School for International Training – (SIT) visited the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) on Thursday, March 2nd 2017. These students go to various universities in the United States, and they are staying in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo as part of the Peace Studies, the programme organized by the Center for Comparative Conflict Studies at the Faculty for Media and Communication.